Flying Lesson
by JadziaKathryn
Summary: Jake is at the helm, so watch out!


Disclaimer: They aren't mine, they never were, and they never will be.  
  
Timeline: This takes place sometime before the Dominion War.  
  
FLYING LESSONS  
  
Kira's voice came through the comm, "Permission granted."  
  
"OK, Jake, let's take this slowly." Ben Sisko sat nervously in the passenger's seat of a shuttle, trying not to let his son sense his fears. "Press the green button."  
  
The engines started, and Jake smiled as he said, "Now what?"  
  
"You know, I think maybe I should take us away from the station."  
  
"Aw, Dad, come on."  
  
But Sisko had already deftly maneuvered the small craft out beyond Deep Space Nine, the powered down. "OK. Push the green button again. That's good. Now, let's try one-quarter impulse. Push the red button on the left."  
  
He suddenly grabbed the console as the shuttle jumped to warp. "Your other left, Jake!"  
  
"Oops. Sorry about that." Personally, Jake had found the short ride thrilling, but he decided it was best not to tell his father that.  
  
Back on Deep Space Nine, Jadzia Dax remarked, "Ben sure is starting him out with a bang."  
  
"Either that, or Jake'll be returning Commander Sisko with a heart attack for Julian to treat," added Chief O'Brien.  
  
"I'm glad I'm not on that shuttle right now," was Major Kira's reply.  
  
Dax smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I think it sounds like fun."  
  
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Sisko gulped, "I don't think we're ready for warp speed yet, Jake. Can we try quarter impulse again?" He wished Jennifer was there to share this interesting experience with him.  
  
"Red button on the left." The shuttle smoothly slid into a slow motion. "Hey, this isn't so hard!"  
  
"It get a lot harder when there's another ship with their weapons locked on your engines." Anyway, it may be easy for Jake, but his father hadn't been so nervous since he took command of the station. "Time for a right turn. The blue arrow."  
  
He almost fell out of his seat as they took a ninety degree turn. Swallowing hard, he said, "Now if Doctor Bashir was trying to treat a patient..."  
  
"They would've just fallen off the table. I'll try again." And before his dad could interject, Jake took another turn. "Was that better?"  
  
"Better. Still a little sharp, though. Try turning right this time."  
  
Jake hit the opposite arrow, and the shuttle turned again. "Dad, I can turn. Can we go faster now?"  
  
"Not yet. Take her up, Jake."  
  
"Up?"  
  
"The yellow arrow. And try to be smooth, OK?"  
  
"Gotcha. Here we go....oops. Wrong arrow." The ship went smoothly, alright- down."  
  
While correcting this mistake, Jake accidentally hit another control, and the shuttle went to red alert.  
  
"Did I miss something, Jake, or did you just panic?" Maybe humor would help him survive this little exercise.  
  
Jake groaned inwardly. He wasn't turning out to be very good at piloting. "How do you turn it off?"  
  
Sisko hit the control again, and the shuttle went back to the way it was supposed to be. Although he couldn't help feeling that with his son piloting, nearby ships might want to go to red alert. What was next, the phasers? He could see it now, making headlines: Young Jake Sisko Starts Diplomatic Nightmare. He disabled the weapons while Jake was looking at the control that had turned on red alert.  
  
"Boy, these sure are sensitive," he remarked absentmindedly.  
  
"Lay in a course for the station."  
  
"Aww, so soon?" Soon? thought Sisko. It had seemed like hours. "If we get going alright, you can go to half impulse. But no faster."  
  
The shuttle docked with a distinct thud! Jake had failed to slow down quite enough, and instead of docking like they planned, they rammed into the docking station. Sisko tried not to show his relief to be back safely.  
  
"Not bad, Jake, not bad. But maybe we'll practice in a holosuite before we go out again."  
  
"Was I that bad?"  
  
"No, you did fine for your first time. It was just a little rough, that's all. The first time I piloted a shuttle, I almost ran into a comet."  
  
Jake gave his father a quick hug before running off to tell Nog. "Thanks, Dad."  
  
When his son was out of sight, he hit his combadge. "Sisko to Kira."  
  
"Kira here, sir."  
  
"Would you mind if I took over half an hour late? I just had a rather stressful experience."  
  
"No problem. Take an hour, if you need it."  
  
Dax's voice came through the background. "I'm off duty in five minutes. Want to tell me about it over a raktajino?"  
  
"Sounds good, Old Man. Sounds good." 


End file.
